PopSockets: The Story Behind How It Went From A Simple Concept To Selling Tens Of Millions Of Units

When it comes to using a smartphone, PopSockets solves three major issues. Having a PopSocket on your phone gives you a much better grip so holding your phone is much easier and it makes taking selfies effortless without worry about dropping the device. And PopSockets can work as a kickstand for your smartphone so it can stand upright. This really comes in handy because it can be a nuisance to hold it upright while playing games, watching content, reading e-books, etc. And many people use PopSockets for wrapping around their headphones.

One of the best aspects of PopSockets is the ability to customize the designs. For example, PopSockets can be purchased in designs inspired by aluminum, marble, Swarovski crystals, spirit animals, emoji, Harry Potter, Pokémon, Transformers, Justice League, Marvel, Greek life and various sports. And you can design your own PopSocket on the company website.

Recently PopSockets released a car vent mount product. So I placed a PopSocket car vent mount in my vehicle and it has made my commute much safer. During my 30 minute commute, I use the Waze GPS app on my iPhone X every day to ensure there aren’t any traffic jams. By placing the PopSocket affixed to my iPhone X in the new car vent mount, my phone does not slide around while I am driving and using the GPS app. It feels like my drive has become safer as a result.

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PopSockets' Car Vent Mount

Since I heavily endorse PopSockets and the car vent mount, I took the opportunity to connect with PopSockets founder, creator and Chairman of the Board David Barnett in order to learn more about the company. Barnett told me that he grew up in Colorado and studied philosophy at Emory University and physics at University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder). And then he received a Ph.D. in philosophy at New York University (NYU). After that, he taught philosophy at NYU, University of Vermont, Davidson College and CU-Boulder.

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Photo of PopSockets founder David Barnett

How did he come up with the idea for PopSockets? Barnett said that he was tired of his earbuds getting tangled up so he drove to the nearest JOANN Fabric store to find a solution. “I ended up gluing two giant clothing buttons to the backside of my iPhone 3G, with tiny buttons as spacers and voila! Problem solved. I wrapped my headset neatly around the two buttons, and never again was my headset tangled,” said Barnett in the interview. “Unfortunately (or fortunately), I faced a new problem: my friends and family taunted me for my grotesque solution. I spent the next several months developing my invention, the PopSockets grip: an accordion-based gizmo that collapses for pockets and expands to serve as a grip, a stand and a headset-management system.”

To design the PopSockets, Barnett taught himself 3D CAD software for designing parts and assemblies. And then he created models for prototyping in China. After making 60 prototypes over the course of 15 months, Barnett launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the business in 2012. “I danced in my Kickstarter video, which delighted my mother and made tech bloggers uncomfortable,” Barnett quipped. Here is the video that Barnett posted on Kickstarter:

In the summer of 2012, Barnett ended up losing his house during the series of Colorado wildfires. With the insurance money he received for lost contents, he was able to fund the business early on. “It sounds a bit too lucky, but I promise I didn’t start the fire, which took hundreds of homes in the mountains of Boulder. I also raised about $500,000 from acquaintances who believed in the idea early on. To date, I’ve not taken any institutional money.”

Barnett started by selling PopSockets out of his garage back in 2014. Now it is being sold at Amazon, Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, Walmart and a number of other stores. Barnett said that its sales went from 30,000 PopSockets in the U.S. in the first year to 35 million PopSockets across 40 countries last year. In the first year, revenue hit $240,000 and PopSockets grew 800% every year. This year, PopSockets is on track for manufacturing 70 million products. PopSockets started out with just one employee: Barnett himself. And now the company employs 120 people across Boulder, Colorado; San Francisco, California; Finland; and Singapore.

In the interview, I asked Barnett what he believed were some of the major milestones for the company. “Major milestones include figuring out how to get the accordion to fully collapse, signing our first major retail deal with T-Mobile in 2015, signing our first major influencer deal with Jenna Marbles in 2016, and—in 2017—creating a Department of DoGoods and opening offices in San Francisco, Finland, and Singapore,” Barnett replied.

When I asked about customer success stories that Barnett would like to share, he pointed out that the company receives a “surprising amount of fan mail every week “ranging from middle-school boys and girls reaching out to express their love for the invention to people with Parkinson’s Disease writing to express gratitude for the free PopSockets we put into their hands and the dollars we raised for their support organizations. One person with Parkinson’s wrote, "I absolutely LOVE it and am grateful for the gift. I am often awake at odd hours (common with Parkinson's) and my PopSocket allows me hold/position my iPhone so I can listen to an audiobook or surf the news without waking my husband. Once again, Thank You. How did you know this would make life a bit easier for those with Parkinson’s?’”

Many of PopSocket customers have called the device “life changers.” Barnett said he took this to be hyperbole, but the fans made it clear that the accessory made their lives easier and more fun. So the company made their mission: “to make Little Life Changers.” Barnett added: “We often get specific requests from customers who would like to see new graphics, materials, or technologies incorporated into PopSockets grips. We’re working on it!”

At the end of the interview, I asked Barnett what are some of the future goals of the company. Barnett responded with: “We aim to make hundreds of millions of Little Life Changers. This year alone we’ll make 65 million DoDads—magical gizmos that make people a little happier—and 5 million DoGoods—things including collaborations with non-profits that make people a little happier.”